A SURVEY OF GIARDIA AND CRYPTOSPORIDIUM SPP. IN RURAL AND URBAN COMMUNITY IN NORTH DELTA, EGYPT

Khaled Abd El-Aziz Mohammad, Alaa Abd El-Aziz Mohammad

Abstract

Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis are 2 protozoan parasites that affect humans and awide range of domestic and wild animals. These parasites are a major cause of diarrheal diseasein humans and animals worldwide, causing high morbidity in their hosts, inimmunocompromised hosts and children, they can lead to death. In order to assess theprevalence of these protozoans among population in the northern part of Delta and the risk ofhuman infection, 330 people (175 females and 155 males) with or without symptoms whoattended a Health Care Center were parasitologically studied. The purpose of this study was toassess the frequency of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. in the northern part of Delta(Damietta governorate) and the risk of human infection of these protozoa related to personal data,socio-cultural and environmental characteristics, and the presence of symptoms/signs among arural and urban population. Of the surveyed population (330), 3.6% were infected withCryptosporidium spp. only or 24.2% with Giardia spp. and 2.4% were infected with bothprotozoa. The frequency of infection according to sex; 2,7% of males were infected and 0.9% offemales by Cryptosporidium spp, 12.7% and 11.5% by Giardia spp. and 1.5% and 0.9% by bothparasites, respectively. Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia spp. was frequent in children (under 12year) than adults in both sexes, however, Cryptosporidum infections were most frequentlydiagnosed in children less than 12years old and prevalence decreased with age. The prevalencesof these protozoa in this community are lower than those reported by other studies, which isprobably associated with the low density of the studied population. Statistical analysis revealedthat a male sex, children, loss of weight, impropal waste disposal, diarrhea and abdominal painwere correlated with the presence of these parasites, which indicate the importance of thesefactors in rural communities.Keywords: Cryptosporidium spp., Giardia spp, epidemiology, rural and urban community, NorthDelta, Damietta Governorate.